business engagement center2015-03-03T19:13:09Zhttp://web.uri.edu/bec/feed/atom/WordPresskmcgwinhttp://web.uri.edu/bec/?p=7212015-03-03T19:13:09Z2015-03-03T19:13:09ZBarbara Silver says that research has repeatedly shown that flexible work schedules and employer support for work/life issues results in improvements in employee productivity, job satisfaction and job retention and decreases in absenteeism. It also benefits employee physical and mental health.
]]>0kmcgwinhttp://web.uri.edu/bec/?p=7162015-03-02T15:44:09Z2015-03-02T15:44:09ZOcean researchers like to say that we know less about the Earth’s seas than the moon. With less than 5 percent of the world’s oceans explored, big discoveries await. To find them, University of Rhode Island students are learning to build the next generation of autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs, used to map seafloors, study ocean movement, locate sunken objects, research sea life and more.
]]>0kmcgwinhttp://web.uri.edu/bec/?p=7072015-02-27T20:23:29Z2015-02-27T20:20:27ZOne of the leading scientific instrument makers in the world, Shimadzu Corporation, will provide the University of Rhode Island’s new Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences, currently under construction on the Kingston campus, with state-of-the-art instruments at a significant discount, including a full 5-year service plan, an in-kind donation valued at more than $1.2 million.

University of Rhode Island President David M. Dooley (left) and Shuzo Maruyama, president of Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (right) prepare to sign the ceremonial agreement between the company and the University.

If the University were to purchase the instruments through normal educational purchase programs, the cost could run up to $2.8 million. The service plan covers technician visits once each semester to the teaching-learning labs and an additional visit each year to the research laboratories.

Based in Japan, Shimadzu Corp. posted $3 billion in consolidated net sales in 2013. Its contribution to URI will ensure that the University has cutting edge instruments and the ability to maintain even heavy demand instruments used by thousands of URI students who take chemistry each year.

To celebrate the partnership, University and Shimadzu officials came together for a signing ceremony on September 10, 2014.

“As many Rhode Islanders who supported this project knew, the Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences is central to the University’s efforts to continually strengthen teaching and research and help build a strong economic future for the state based on discovery and innovation,” said President David M. Dooley. “When the new building opens, thanks to this generous donation from Shimadzu, our students and faculty will have access to the most advanced laboratory instruments and a program to keep all of them operational. We are fortunate to be able to partner with a company like Shimadzu, which is committed to the success of our University.”

“The University of Rhode Island has a dynamic science program focused on the future, and Shimadzu is pleased and eager to support such a research institution,” said Shuzo Maruyama, president of Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (the American subsidiary of Shimadzu Corp.). “We are delighted to have the opportunity to catalyze the potential of this great institution and look forward to working together in the future.”

Slated to be completed in the spring of 2016, URI’s $68 million Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences will serve more than 7,000 URI students who take chemistry each year; about 40 percent of all URI degree programs require at least one chemistry class. It will provide chemistry instruction to approximately 1,400 students each day.

Among the instruments that will be found in the teaching and learning labs are: balances, mass spectrometers, gas chromatographs, spectrometers, and liquid chromatographs.

“I am very grateful to the Shimadzu Corporation for providing the students and faculty the instruments they need to engage in 21st century science,” said Winifred Brownell, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “This center and all of the instruments contained in it will benefit all Rhode Islanders as it serves as a catalyst for economic development and discoveries that will improve peoples’ health and well-being within our state’s borders and around the world.”

URI President David M. Doolley and Navatek CEO Martin Kao sign a memorandum of understanding.

One month after the opening of the Business Engagement Center in the fall of 2013, ocean technology firm Navatek, Ltd. announced the opening of its first East Coast office in South Kingstown. It is easy to spot University of Rhode Island engineering alumni—half the staff graduated from the University with engineering degrees.

“We chose South Kingstown as our East Coast home in large part for its proximity to the University of Rhode Island,” Navatek Chief Scientist David Kring said. “We’re eager to collaborate with the University to develop a future workforce and a continuing pipeline of new ideas valuable to the defense and alternative energy sectors.”

When it opened its Rhode Island office, Navatek hired eight URI engineering graduates and launched a paid internship program for URI engineering students. The naval and renewable energy research company and URI formalized the partnership during an event in fall 2013.

“Our partnership with Navatek provides real-world, realistic and challenging learning opportunities for students; innovative research possibilities; and another strong relationship with private industry,” says URI President David Dooley.

Among the recent hires from this partnership is Engineer Lauren Schamback, who works on cutting-edge ship design software. Schamback majored in ocean engineering and Spanish through the International Engineering Program, as well as minored in mathematics. Lauren came to URI from Brielle, New Jersey, and learned about the opportunity at Navatek through one of her URI professors in ocean engineering, Dr. Stephan Grilli.

URI alum Lauren Schamback (top row, center) and fellow engineering graduates hired by Navatek for their new South Kingstown location.

“Prior to that I had never heard of the company, probably because it’s headquartered in Hawaii and I was focusing on searching for jobs in New England,” she says. “Dr. Grilli informed me that Navatek was opening up a new Rhode Island-based office and that the company was involved in a lot of research in hydrodynamics and computational fluid dynamics, and that got me interested.”

Ocean engineering Professor Stephan Grilli was instrumental in arranging the partnership with Navatek based on his connections with the company. “I envision many benefits,” he says. “Our program trains students in skills that Navatek needs and our research interests nicely complement each other. Plus, having company mentors present in the classroom is a beneficial experience for our students.”

Schambach concurs, and feels that her experience at URI, particularly her affiliation with the International Engineering Program, has provided her with incredibly useful skills that have translated into her career.

“Being in the International Engineering Program at URI was a truly amazing experience,” says Schamback. “By studying engineering as well as a language, I gained not only useful problem-solving skills, but also communication skills. Learning doesn’t just stop when you leave the classroom and I think that the technical knowledge that I got from URI has given me a great base that I have been building off of this past year at Navatek.”

]]>0kmcgwinhttp://web.uri.edu/bec/?p=6862015-02-27T20:06:17Z2015-02-27T20:06:17ZIn January of 2014, Amgen Rhode Island signed a partnership agreement with the University of Rhode Island to formalize their “strong, mutually beneficial working relationship.” In the agreement, Amgen and URI acknowledged their collaboration on workforce development and training, research and development, and to work as advocates for one another with policy makers. Amgen also agreed to regularly hire URI interns, growing its URI employee base, and the University has committed to help train and educate Amgen employees in OSHA training, energy management plans, Haz-Mat-based training, cyber security training, and cross cultural training. Additionally, the University and Amgen will collaborate for the College of Engineering capstone design program, in which students help to provide solutions for the company’s day-to-day-operations.

President David Dooley, Kimball Hall (former general manager of Amgen West Greenwich), and members of RI government cut the ribbon at the opening of the Amgen BioLabs in 2010.

This mutually beneficial agreement cements a long-standing relationship between the company and the University. Amgen, a global biotechnology pioneer, discovers, develops and delivers innovative human therapeutics. Amgen’s products have helped millions of patients in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other serious illnesses. The Amgen Corporation, along with its foundation, has been a leading partner of the University for over 20 years, and has provided a wide range of vital support for biotechnology research and education, expanding opportunities for students and faculty.

In addition to partnering with URI on a number of important initiatives, Amgen has also contributed financially to URI, with nearly $2M in contributions , supporting programs across the University. Their most recent gift was a two-year grant for $174,000 to implement the Amgen Biotech Experience: an innovative science education program that provides a real-world biotech lab experience to 50 middle schools and high schools in Rhode Island. Since 2007 in Rhode Island, the Amgen Biotech Experience (formerly known as the Amgen-Bruce Wallace Biotechnology Lab Program) has introduced more than 8,000 students in secondary school classrooms to contemporary science techniques, including comprehensive teacher training. Teachers are given a robust, hands-on, inquiry-based biology curriculum, in addition to a full suite of transportable, research-grade equipment and supplies, at no cost to the participating schools. “Through the support of the Amgen Foundation, the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at URI is excited to continue bringing the Amgen Biotech Experience to classrooms in our community,” said Gregory Paquette, director of the URI Providence Biotechnology Center, in November. “The students and teachers who participate in this program are given the tools and resources to bring science to life and inspire students to want to learn more about biotechnology.”

In 2010, the University recognized Amgen’s longtime support by dedicating the state-of-the-art teaching laboratories in its Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences. The company took an early interest in the expansion of biotechnology education at URI. It provided guidance as the University developed the curricula for a Biotechnology Manufacturing Program and later donated equipment and provided financial support to establish a biotechnology manufacturing laboratory at the URI Feinstein Providence Campus.

“Amgen is committed to enhancing science education in our community,” said Kimball Hall, Vice President of Amgen’s Rhode Island Operations, in the announcement of the lab dedication. “These learning laboratories are absolutely essential for the next generation of scientists to train on the latest techniques and processes that will result in improved quality of life for millions of people. We are delighted that URI is taking a lead in teaching biological sciences, and we are thrilled to be able to provide resources for these laboratories.”

Today, the company hires over 100 URI alums and Amgen executives serve on advisory boards for both the College of Engineering and the College of Pharmacy, helping to play an active role in advancing the University and industry.

]]>0kmcgwinhttp://web.uri.edu/bec/?p=6732015-02-17T13:49:36Z2015-02-17T13:49:36ZAn award-winning University of Rhode Island business professor, Kathryn Jervis, has been named interim dean of the College of Business Administration. Donald H. DeHayes, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs made the appointment and Jervis began her duties last month, succeeding Mark Higgins, who left the University in December.
]]>0kmcgwinhttp://web.uri.edu/bec/?p=6382015-01-16T15:27:43Z2015-01-14T15:25:27ZKelly K. Mahoney, who served as policy director for Clay Pell’s gubernatorial campaign, director of policy for former Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee and policy director for the Rhode Island Department of Administration, has been named executive director of external relations and communications at the University of Rhode Island, effective January 12.
]]>0kmcgwinhttp://web.uri.edu/bec/?p=6342014-12-18T13:57:59Z2014-12-18T13:57:59ZRevitalization of former South Street Power Station to generate hundreds of new jobs and millions of dollars in economic stimulus and tax revenue.
]]>0kmcgwinhttp://web.uri.edu/bec/?p=6252014-12-01T14:06:41Z2014-12-01T14:06:41ZAt the University of Rhode Island’s 90-year-old College of Business Administration, some of the undergraduate students are taking to the streets with their lessons.
]]>0kmcgwinhttp://web.uri.edu/bec/?p=6282014-12-01T14:10:56Z2014-11-24T14:09:25ZIf you haven’t taken a ride or walked to the north edge of campus on Flagg Road, you are missing a stunning new addition to the University of Rhode Island skyline.
]]>0